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The Power of Three
"To my three beautiful girls. May this give you the light to find the shadows. The power of three will set you free." : —Patty's inscription on the Halliwell Spirit Board. : The Power of Three is the collective power of the Charmed Ones, said to be the strongest kind of magic that has ever and will ever exist in this world. The requirement to tap into this power is for each witch to possess one of the three following powers: Telekinesis, Molecular Immobilization, and the power of Premonitions. Symbolizing the Power of Three is the triquetra, a symbol that also represents the Charmed Ones themselves (three together as one) and which is marked on their Book of Shadows. While most of the spells written in the book require the Power of Three to take enough effect, it isn't always necessary for all three sisters to chant a spell together as long as they are all together at the same time. For example, Phoebe cast the spell to awaken their powers as the Charmed Ones by herself and was merely in the vicinity of her other two sisters; Piper summoned the Power of Three to save Paige from an invading spirit, and Paige summoned it to vanquish a Slime Demon. Origins It is not explicitly stated how a Power of Three bond is formed, but prophecy, lineage, identity, and mutual trust seem to be key factors. It could be possible that the three must take a blood oath as a promise to always remain together, or something of that nature, as Phoebe mentioned that she and her sisters once took one to always remain friends prior to becoming witches. It may also be that one needs the aid of a spell to create such a bond. Phoebe read a spell to bestow the power of the Charmed Ones upon the sisters that is titled "Dominus Trinus": Hear now the words of the witches, The secrets we hid in the night, The oldest of Gods are invoked here, The great work of Magic is sought. In this night and in this hour, We call upon the Ancient Power. Bring your powers to we sisters three! We want the power! Give us the power! Triangle of Power : Brendan: "Three brothers destined to become the most powerful force for evil the world has ever known." : Prue: "The evil Charmed Ones." : — The evil counterpart to The Charmed Ones is revealed. Evil beings have also been seen to exploit the Power of Three. For example, the Rowe Coven was a trio of two warlocks and one half-Warlock (just as the reconstituted Charmed Ones were made up of the witches Piper and Phoebe and the half-witch, half-Whitelighter Paige), making them the evil equivalent to the Charmed Ones. Pros & Cons Strengths The effect of a Power of Three bond being formed is that all the members' powers are pooled together into a Collective. One of the benefits of this bond is High Resistance—the ability to withstand high levels of magical force that would kill an ordinary person. More powerful (and hence higher level) beings are harder to kill/affect with one's powers than lower level ones; for example, Piper and the other various Charmed Ones have been shown to have taken direct hits from all kinds of attacks such as Fireballs and Energy Balls and have survived them many times over, whereas such attacks would instantly vanquish any other magical creature. The Triad are also highly resilient to Piper's combustion power whereas other lower level demons usually disintegrate within seconds. Therefore, this particular con is easily balanced out by the strength gained by their collective. Weaknesses Of course, the downsides are that the amount of power one gains from this bond is relative to the level of the other beings involved, though, in the case of Prue, Piper, and Phoebe, they were all more-or-less equal in strength when they first received the Power of Three. Another downside of this is that if one member dies the rest of the Collective will be weakened, making the other members easier to kill off with the death of each member. There is the fact that this collective magically links all of the members to each other in various metaphysical ways. Certain spells cast on one member may affect the others through this connection, such as when Prue was magically turned into an evil warlock through a Dark Wedding ceremony, which subsequently caused Piper and Phoebe to turn into Warlocks as well. Additionally, the Power of Three bond can be broken in several ways. If the members use their powers on each other in a negative manner or atmosphere, then the bond will be broken. Fortunately, this bond can be reforged by all three of the members reconnecting with each other on an emotional level or something to that effect. For example, when the Charmed Ones intentionally used their powers on each other during an argument, which shattered their Power of Three. However, later on, they forgave each other for their actions, showing an understanding of the others' point of view and demonstrating their solidarity as sisters (which is where their Power of Three comes from) in a battle against a demon; as a result, their bond was restored. The bond can also be broken in a more permanent way if one of the members dies. Although the strength of their power increases their chances of not being killed in battle, it is still possible, and such a death could have severe implications to the bond since the collective would be damaged beyond repair. In the case of the Charmed Ones, this was miraculously solved by the revelation that they had a half-sister, Paige Matthews, whose lineage as a Halliwell witch (as well as Whitelighter heritage) allowed the Charmed Ones' Power of Three to be reconstituted. However, this event is incredibly unlikely under normal circumstances. Variations The Power of One The first time that the term "Power of One" was mentioned was on the episode Revenge for a Halliwell Part 1 & 2! The Power of Three Times Four was also once referred to as the "Power of One" to describe how all twelve Halliwell cousins working as one. The Power of Four : Main article: The Power of Four In the original Charmed series, the term originally described the collective powers of Paige, Phoebe and their evil counterparts from the alternate universe, and was shown to be weaker than the Power of Three when they're not able to finish Gideon off by themselves. However, this may be at least partially due to the fact that there were only two Paiges and two Phoebes and no Pipers to finish off the trios. Although, in this series, it was revealed that The Power of Four is actually meant to eventually consist of Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige later in life after having kids. The Power of Four spell: : The Power of Four, will make Evil No More! : The Power of Four, will make Evil No More! : The Power of Four, will make Evil No More! : The Power of Four, will make Evil No More! The Power of Three Times Four : Main article: [[The Power of Three Times Four|The Power of Three Times Fou'r']] The Power of Three Times Four consist of the second generation of Halliwell witches. The spell for this power was the very first spell used in this series! : The Power of Three Times Four spell: :: The Power of Three Times Four will make evil no more! :: The Power of Three Times Four will make evil no more! :: The Power of Three Times Four will make evil no more! :: The Power of Three Times Four will make evil no more! Notes * Several times throughout the show the term "Power of Two" had been used by either Wyatt Halliwell and PJ Halliwell (the only two Twice-Blessed Chidren in their generation, The Second Generation), Tamora 'Tam' and Katherine 'Kat' Halliwell-Mitchell (The only set of twins (identical) in their generation, The Second Generation), or Aiden and Stanford 'Stan' Halliwell-Trudeau (The only set of twins (identical) in their generation, The Third Generation). This was when these pairings were against a powerful evil supernatural being on their own. ** In the original Charmed series, there had been certain hints throughout the show that Billie and Christy Jenkins' sisterly bond resulted in a Power of Two-like effect, and that, combined with their own individual powers, was what made them so strong. ** In the original Charmed series, on one occasion ("Forever Charmed") the "Power of Three" consisted of Penny, Patty (through fetus Phoebe), and Piper's combined power of three generations to banish the Hollow back to its containment. ** Any three people possessing Charmed witch powers through blood, or a "To Call a Witch's Powers" spell, for example, were able to form their own Power of Three, provided they could stop the original users from channeling it in the first place. The Stillman family exploited this for their own ends. ** The term, "The Power of Three" has been used as inspiration for one Charmed: The Second Generation title: *** "What's a Power of Three Times Four? The Power of Three!" played on this term. * Other television shows have mimicked this term: ** In the show "Wizards of Waverly Place," the Russo children—three wizards—used a "Power of Three" to vanquish their enemy. This is an obvious nod towards Charmed, with both shows having some similarities. ** A similar term was used in the movie "Return to Halloweentown," where three members of the Cromwell family of witches (Marnie, Dylan, and Gwen) combine their powers to "destroy" a magical amulet created by three of their ancestors. ** In season 5 episode of The Vampire Diaries, a witch named Quetsiyah utilized the blood of three Petrova doppelgängers for a powerful spell to turn her descendant into the Anchor of the Other Side—a realm that trapped dead supernatural beings. While casting the spell, the women's blood came together and formed the triquetra symbol.